TORONTO — For any company in the tech industry, 25 years “is more like 175 years,” says Softvoyage’s Chief Commercial Officer, Dan Langevin.
It’s that longevity in an ever-changing market that makes Softvoyage’s 25th anniversary that much more impressive.
Softvoyage’s many industry partners agreed, joining together yesterday under sunny blue skies at The Drake Hotel to celebrate Softvoyage’s landmark birthday. It was the second of two parties, following the Montreal event last week.
Dan Langevin with wife Charlene and son Sascha
Several were honoured with special shout-outs and beautiful gift baskets, including Frank DeMarinis, co-founder of Bel Air Travel, Softvoyage’s very first customer back when it all began.
“THE BEST NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR TRAVEL AGENTS”
Travelweek caught up with Langevin for a quick interview amid the revelry.
Langevin joined Softvoyage in 2001, just a couple of years after the company was founded.
What is he most proud of as he looks back on Softvoyage’s successful run? “The fact that we’re still essentially the same company, in our values and our goals. We’ve always been about providing the best new technology for travel advisors and that hasn’t changed,” said Langevin.
“Over the years the team has grown, but the core is the same, and I think that brings so much stability,” he added.
Softvoyage’s technology solutions for the travel industry, including Sirev, are tools that keep travel agencies competitive. That competitive edge includes speed, something that’s a big part of Softvoyage’s product refinements. “To get something that used to take 2 seconds, down to 1.8 seconds, you wouldn’t believe the work and money involved in that,” said Langevin.
Softvoyage is also placing major importance on top-level privacy and security measures. “Protecting data, that’s a huge investment for us,” added Langevin.
AI is on the company’s radar too. “Of course, AI,” said Langevin. “We’re starting to determine what works best for us with AI. AI is complicated. It looks easy but it’s not. But we’re onboard with AI, we’re in full analysis mode.”
Uplift’s Stuart Morris (left) with Sunwing’s Andrew Dawson and John Puntillo
‘TRIP SEARCH’ THEN AND NOW
Langevin was joined by Steve Ringuet and Moise Lévy, Softvoyage’s co-presidents and co-founders, for heartfelt speeches as the event hit its stride.
Softvoyage has a staff count of 65 or so, and the executive trio was joined by a dozen other team members at the Toronto event yesterday.
Ringuet spoke of the early days and his experiences doing trip searches at his mother’s travel agency. In the late 1980s and very early 1990s, ‘trip search’ of course had nothing to do with the Internet. “A client would call up and say ‘I want to do a one-week trip to this destination’ and I’d get on the phones to call the tour operators to check on pricing. Then I’d give that info to the travel agent. Then the client would say ‘what’s the price for two weeks’ and back I’d go to the tour operators,” said Ringuet to laughs.
Early attempts to streamline the process with a database had him rigging up a makeshift antenna in a co-worker’s office. “And then the Internet arrived and everything changed.”
Softvoyage’s 25th anniversary party bookends the company’s 20th anniversary event at the CN Tower back in 2019. With the unthinkable – the pandemic – in the years in between, the industry and Softvoyage have emerged stronger than ever.
More information about Softvoyage can be found at https://www.softvoyage.com/en/.
